This profile was researched and written by student Anne Marie Armentrout of Reed College, under the direction of Dr. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri.

The Bilal Mosque has the second-largest capacity among mosques and Islamic centers located in the greater Portland area. An estimated two to three hundred families attend the mosque and participate in its events. The Bilal Mosque is characterized by its leadership's strong focus on family and children, as well as by the diversity within its community. They are currently the only mosque in Portland without a designated imam (religious leader). The leaders of the Bilal Mosque made a conscious decision not to have an imam so as to prevent a "polarization of the community" and to promote an accepting environment in which people could follow their own legal school or interpretation of Islam. Since September 11, 2001, they have participated in over 200 interfaith events and have taken an active leadership role in representing the Muslim community to the broader Portland community and media.

History

Between 1987 and 1991, a group of eight to ten Muslim families consisting of young professionals from South Asia and the Middle East settled in the Beaverton and Hillsboro suburbs of Portland after being hired by high-tech giants such as Intel and Techtronix. These eight to ten immigrant families socialized with one another. The men attended Friday congregational prayers at Portland State University originally and later at Masjid as-Sabr, which at the time was located in a small converted house in Southwest Portland, a twenty- to thirty-minute drive away from them, and was comprised mostly of international students from Arab countries.

In 1992 they felt the need to build a mosque closer to their homes and places of work. They decided to perform one prayer daily in one another's homes in order to see whether or not the need they perceived was real and to see if they could, despite their diverse backgrounds, work together to found and manage a mosque. They prayed the sunset or night prayer, depending on the season, together over the course of several months, at the end of which they decided that the trial period had been successful and that it was time to begin the search for a permanent location.

In autumn of 1994 they purchased a lot with a small house, which they were able to get the county to re-zone for conversion into a mosque. Within the span of the time during which they began to pray in each other's homes and the time they began to pray in the converted mosque, their numbers increased to about twenty families. The number of Muslims living in the area and joining the community has continued to increase because the boom in the high-tech sector brought new Muslim migrants to Portland and also because of the settlement of Muslim refugees, primarily from Somalia, in the region.

In 1995 the original group of families began fundraising for and visioning the building of a more traditional mosque structure. Their primary emphasis was on creating a place of worship that could be characterized as a "family space." This vision entailed a space in which family members all pray together in one large room, the men in the front and the women in the back. However, some members of the community felt uncomfortable with the mixing of the sexes, and the beginnings of a rift was noted in the community. As a result of numerous discussions, the design of the mosque underwent several changes. At first they decided that the men and women would pray in separate rooms, but that the rooms would be side by side and divided by a glass wall. Later in the discussions, the glass wall turned into a solid wall with a glass window and double glass doors connecting the rooms, which is how the mosque was constructed. Some people in the community still felt that this was an improper way of separating the genders because men and women could still see one another while praying. The mosque was completed in 1999. Approximately six months after the mosque had begun to be used for prayer several individuals put a one-way film over the glass; women can still see into the men’s prayer room to a certain extent, but the men cannot see into the women’s prayer room. People have peeled the film back at the corners, signaling that the community still remains divided in their vision for how the sexes should mix in the prayer areas. Men and women mix freely in all other areas of the mosque.

In 2000 the Bilal Mosque purchased two adjacent lots, which they successfully got re-zoned and added to the original lot. One of the lots has a house that was put to use as a full-time pre-school and kindergarten. In 2001, a modular trailer was put on the other lot between the mosque and the house, as a temporary means of providing adequate space for Sunday school classes, holding meetings, hosting interfaith events, and accommodating the overflow during Friday congregational prayers and during Ramadan. They have plans to expand the mosque and classrooms beginning in 2008.

Administration

The original group of eight to ten families who were primarily responsible for visioning and financing the mosque also administer the mosque on a volunteer basis. They comprise the Board of Trustees, which also functions as a Board of Advisors. The men and women on the Board of Trustees oversee the Board of Directors and ensure that the mosque remains in keeping with its founding values and vision. The Board of Trustees created the Bilal Mosque Association, which owns the mosque. The Board of Directors is comprised of both men and women, who fulfill the roles of President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing day-to-day administration of the mosque. Often the same persons serve on both boards.

In addition to the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors, there are the following positions at the mosque: Media/Outreach Coordinator, Sunday School Coordinator, Summer Camp Coordinator, Interfaith Coordinator, Building/Property Manager, and a Khutba (sermon) Coordinator. No one is designated as an imam at the mosque. Persons from both within and outside of the local community are invited by the Khutba Coordinator to lead congregational prayers and offer the Friday sermons. They are asked to give their sermons in English, to avoid discussion of political and sectarian issues, and to refrain from verbally attacking any public officials or governments. If they do not abide by these guidelines, they are not asked to give sermons again.

Description

The mosque is located on just over one acre of land in a residential section of Beaverton, Oregon, a twenty-minute drive away from downtown Portland. It is directly across the street and right next door to two apartment complexes. There are residential homes on the other two sides of the mosque. It is a tall gray-stone rectangular building, with numerous tall windows, a flat roof, and no minaret. There are several security cameras monitoring walkways around the mosque. Men and women have separate unmarked entries next to one another. Inside the men’s entrance is an ablution area and bathroom on the left and shoe racks to the right. The men’s prayer area is very simple. In the front are several bookshelves with copies of the Qur’an, a microphone for the adhan (call to prayer) and the sermon, and several windows in the corners that allow people from outside to look into the mosque. The ceiling opens into a dome styled after typical Pacific Northwest architecture. Just inside the women’s entrance is a bathroom to the left and an ablution area and shoe-racks to the right. The women’s prayer area is the same as the men’s, only slightly smaller and without a domed ceiling. The men’s and women’s prayer areas are next to one another and connected by double glass doors and a glass window, both of which are covered with a one-way film so that the men cannot see the women but the women can see the men. Off of the women’s prayer area is a kitchen and an office. Next to the mosque are two other community buildings: a modular trailer and the schoolhouse.

Demographics

According to the leaders of the mosque there are two to three hundred families attend the mosque regularly. The majority of people that attend the mosque are married and have children. The leaders of the mosque estimate that forty percent of the mosque attendees are Somali, thirty-five percent are South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi), five percent are Euro-Americans, less than ten percent are Arabs, and the rest are of other ethnic backgrounds. The majority of Somalis are refugees that have joined the community in the last few years. Many of the South Asians have a graduate-level education. Most of the adults in the community came to the United States for higher education and employment; most of their children have been born in the United States. The most concentrated age group is those between thirty and forty years of age. For each prayer there are approximately three men to every one woman in attendance.

Activities

The mosque is open every day for each of the five prayers. It holds Jum'a or Congragational prayers around noon each Friday. Major Eid prayers are performed in the Portland Convention Center with Muslims from other mosques and Islamic centers in Portland. During the month of Ramadan, the mosque also holds supererogatory prayers at night known as taraweeh.

Sunday School is held during the regular school year for two to three hours. There are approximately eighty-five children and teenagers, split into five age groups each of whom have their own teacher. The emphasis in the Sunday School is on learning to read the Qur’an, comprehending its ethical message and applying it to one's life. There are also lessons in Islamic history, etiquette, and morals.

In 2001 the mosque created a school for pre-school- and kindergarten-age children. It is a cooperative school, which means it involves parents in its teaching activities. The school offers lessons on basic math and science as well as on the Arabic language and the Qur’an. There are currently three teachers and about twenty students at the school.

Other activities for the children of the community include a summer camp, debate exercises, and moderated discussions of current events. Since 9/11, the community has made conscious effort in educating its youth in political and cultural affairs so that they could grow up and serve as "ambassadors of the Muslim community."

A community member who has a city license performs marriages at the mosque. Wedding parties and other social events are also celebrated with moderation at the mosque.

The mosque is also heavily involved in interfaith activities with local churches and synagogues. It also participates in civic and social service activities both independently and in conjunction with the Islamic Social Services of Oregon (ISOS), the Oregon Muslim Citizens Alliance, and Habitat for Humanities.

The Bilal Mosque also serves as a liaison between the Portland Muslim community and local government and law enforcement agencies. It has, for example, hosted town meetings with local FBI officials in relation to the Portland Seven case and the Brannon Mayfield affair.